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DA meets with lawyer for disabled man who was shocked with taser by Syracuse police, dragged off bus

Disabled Man Tasered on Centro BusSyracuse police used a taser to get Brad Hulett off a Centro bus May 3, 2013, after he refused to sit down or get off on his own. Hulett, who says a back condition makes it difficult to sit while riding a bus, suffered a broken hip in the incident, according to hospital records.

Syracuse, NY -- The defense lawyer representing a disabled man who was shocked with a taser by Syracuse police and then dragged off a city bus for not obeying officers' commands to sit down in a seat met this afternoon with the Onondaga County District Attorney to discuss the case.

Rick Guy's client, Brad Hulett, was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after the incident, which was caught on camera. Guy said is he working to have the charges against his client dropped.

But also of importance, according to Guy, are videotapes that show that Hulett's arresting officers filed false reports after the incident.

"This begs for close scrutiny, as to what happened that day," said Guy. "The police reported there was no injury after the arrest, which was patently false. The reports, when looked at with the video, indicate someone wasn't telling the truth."

Brad Hulett: Advocates for Central New Yorkers with disabilities are seeking answers after Hulett was Tasered, and his hip broken, after he declined to take a seat on a bus.Mike Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

Hulett, 35, of Syracuse, suffered brain damage in 1991 when two trains struck him, one after the other, in Salina. In a later car accident, he suffered two herniated discs in his back that make sitting down on buses painful, he said.

After Hulett was arrested, he spent the night in a jail cell before he was taken to Upstate University Hospital at 4 a.m. There, surgeons immediately operated on Hulett's hip, which had been broken during the arrest, according to Hulett and medical records.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has said recently that he's ordered his office to get the full videotape and to transcribe what is audible from it.

He also said his office is reviewing the police and Centro reports in comparison with the audio/video evidence.

Guy said he has made other discovery demands that have only been partially met. He said he has asked for more video surveillance tapes, as well as recordings of 911 calls and other communications between the responding officers.